Nautical But Nice..

Jazzed my blog up a bit last night..bit on tinkering here and there, So whadda ya think readers..???
 Good..Bad Or A Load Of Old Shit...Think it kinda sums me up nicely..Looking out to sea from the said gallows on the shore.

Wake up Norfolk Its Norfolk Day..

Yes i know its not officially #NorfolkDay but being that it is Horatio Nelsons birthday it bloody well should be. Not long back they were raving about #yorkshireday on twitter...i'm sure if certain members of the norfolk community had suggested this day as a celebration of our wonderful county, it would be talked of in higher places than twitter..
Now i know certain things do take a while to register in norfolk and i'm pretty sure there will be the odd sea-salt raising a glass to our local hero and rightly so..However i think just raising a glass isn't quite enough, what do you think..??? Maybe in city hall norwich or great yarmouth town hall they have something planned for local councillors ect (i dont know) , if so then they should realy share the fun with all the good folk of norfolk so we can all enjoy and embrace what is so fantastic about our county. I'm not going to say much more than this, but will tweet the odd tweet using the #NorfolkDay hashtag from midnight..For those reading who don't know what wonders we have inside our borders, i'll let the pictures do the talking below and maybe a video too..

Here's to #NorfolkDay 2011 in the hope that by 2012 it will be embraced and celebrated by all in our wonderful county.

Can you hear the "Roker Roar"...???

Bet you're thinking to yourself..what on earth is a monkeyhanging hartlepool united / Middlesbrough fan doing writing about the mackems..???
Well i'll try to explain..see the story goes something like this, Way way back before i was born, my mam and dad were very passionate sunderland supporters, in fact i believe every man..woman..child and scabby pit pony in the mining village of Murton County Durham was and pretty much still is..nobody gives you an option realy, its something you're born into and its something there is little escape from..
Truth be known, many would set off mid-morning from the village on bikes or on foot on the 8 mile journey to Roker Park, back in the olden days when cars were few and bus services infrequent..

My earliest memory of  going to roker park was a game against cardiff city which i mentioned in a previous blog-post..i'm realy not sure how many times i've actually stood on the fullwell or roker end terraces or taken a seat in the clock stand, but it must be at least 50.
Inside roker park you would find whole families on the terraces, yes even grandads and grannies with their wooly hats and red,white and black scarves..I think this is where true passion was ingrained into me, no i'm not passionate about sunderland personally, but being a part of a crowd at such a young age its fair to say you cant help but get enthusiastic and want to sing the songs others are singing with their all..

Most of my trips to roker park were from when i was staying with my grandparents in murton..i'd often go along with a friend from the village andy richardson and his dad..However due to my dads still lingering passion for the black cats, we'd sometimes jump into his mates car and head up the A19 from middlesbrough when he was home from working on the oil rigs or in holland or norway..This was only ever done if the boro obviously playing away that day..
We'd pull into the roker hotel on roker seafront and nip inside for a bite to eat and a couple of pints (coke or lemonade for me) as i was still just a young spotty teenager...Then it would be a short walk round to the stadium, avoiding piles of police horse shit, barking alsatians and the odd scuffle outside the pub that was next to the roker end ( cant remember the name of it..)...Not a word was said between us heading to roker park, my dads accent was local but mine and his mate pauls were more teesside than wearside..accents were a dead give away and it was wise to keep it zipped during the game too, but obviously jump around like a looney if sunderland scored...

I remember when i was around 16 or 17 and middlesbrough were away to sunderland..this was to be my first trip with my mates to roker park..we headed off mid-afternoon to middlesbrough railway station for the trip up to mackemland..the train was chokka and there were a lot of familiar faces onboard..there was mass tension on the train and you could see in the eyes of the older lads they were up for one hell of a scrap when we got to sunderland.
This is where the story takes a twist..we'd just got past hartlepool and were heading towards seaham harbour, as we pulled into seaham, all the lads started getting off the train..someone thought it was seaburn (close to roker park) so not wanting to end up at sunderland central with just a few mates, we decided to get off too..
Nobody realy knew where they were and the train had left around 300 of us on the platform, i grabbed one of the lads and told him the direction to sunderland as i knew seaham quite well..so off we went through the village heading to the A19..locals were coming to their doors to see why 300 football fans were walking through their village..some shouted stuff but were ignored..these lads had BIG FISH to fry....As we reached the A19 and then into ryhope village, we saw a massive welcoming party, no not sunderland fans but the local police in massive numbers..This was a bit of a relief but to others you could sense the police had messed up plans for better things..So we were all surrounded and escorted to an area near sunderland rugby club (grangetown i think) and put on yellow double deckers to roker park..
Sunderland won the game 1-0 and afterwards we were escorted to a massive train and sent back to the boro..most pissed off not only with the result, but also the lack of action with their fans.

I'm sure you're all aware of sunderlands proudest moment to date..that 1973 cup final v's leeds united..This club was once the richest in the land, and earned the nickname "the bank of england club" in the 1930's..I'm pretty sure the deep passion is still there with the fans..yes they are currently in the premier league and to be fair just treading water..i feel it wont be long before they plummet back down to the 2nd division as it was in old money..To me they just arn't the same club anymore and dont command the BIG CLUB  title they once held and rightly so...You mackems will say different, but in reality its true...The video below was the greatest moment in the clubs history and i doubt it will ever be matched again.

One thing i will say in favour of sunderland is this..your fans are by far the loudest i've ever heard..when not at football in sunderland and shopping in the town as it was back then, My nana would often say "can you hear the roker roar pet" or hinney (co durham slang for honey)..??? and by christ you could on the town side of the river wear..

The Scream By Edvard Munch

                                                        One of my favourite paintings...

My Love Of Reggae "N" Ting....

Damn where do i start with this..to be honest i don't remember where i first heard reggae..it could well have been THE POLICE..not pure reggae as we know it today, but more a fusion of punk..rock and flavours of reggae..At that time in the late 70's early 80's i tended to listen to a lot of my fathers music which consisted of just about everything..Sunday mornings he'd blast out anything from jim reeves to 10cc..Ah the penny has just dropped...yes yes yes 10cc dreadlock holiday must have been where the reggae beat hit my heart and made me bend my knees to the riddim and sway..

Top of the pops was always cool for keeping up with musical trends as was the tyne tees production THE TUBE..However the next sample of reggae that realy made me stand up and take notice was musical youth on blue peter of all places singing pass the dutchie..now that was a massive hit here in the uk..still not quite pure reggae but something that lifted you up and gave you that feel good feeling..please bear in mind i was maybe 13 or 14 at the time so knew very little about music, but liked to hear a good tune..
The appeal of bob marley and freddie mcgregor was still a long way away and reggae was pretty much unheard of in middlesbrough (well to my ears anyway).

Two-Tone Ska had been born and was gaining a lot of fans with bands like the beat..the specials and selecter..then the kinda fun side of ska with bad manners and their lead singer buster bloodvessel..i wasn't realy that keen on this version of reggae untill the slower GHOST-TOWN was released by the specials, i quite liked this and DO NOTHING..still not the pure reggae but my ears were by now getting curious and i wanted to explore..

It must have been around 1985 when leaving school or shortly after i made friends with micky smith and clive ramsey..clive was of jamaican origin and a bit of a local hard case, well respected but also feared by a lot of our generation in middlesbrough..both micky and clive were a year or so older than me but we got on great and this frienship was my vehicle to get to know reggae music better..i'd often be round at mickeys house playing snooker and listening to his collection of ub40 and other reggae compilation stuff..artistes i'd never heard of like eek-a-mouse..yellowman..gregory isaacs..dennis brown and more.
As time moved on and i was getting more and more into reggae i discovered there was a radio show on radio 1 on sunday nights..the ranking miss p was truly awesome and i'd record her shows and play back the tapes all week till the next show..

Its thanks to miss p i discovered lovers rock reggae..to this day its still my favourite genre of reggae and of course its all british but with jamaican flavour..
We started getting to the speakeasy in linthorpe rd in the boro, a notorious club but one of the only places to hear reggae music in the town..yes it got a bit nasty in there from time to time, but hey it was nasty in most clubs and pubs in the boro if you were unlucky to be there when all hell broke out..
After the speakey as we called it, we'd head off to a blues party..usually in a derelict house in town with the venue kept hush hush until the last minute so to speak..you could get in if you knew people and we were never turned away...in the blues you could hear the sweet reggae tunes being played and get a plate of curry goat, rice and peas and a can of red stripe to wash it all down..the full jamaican package middlesbrough stylee...GREAT TIMES.

Moving on and on i was now hooked on the reggae and my record and tape collection was growing..it wasn't easy to get hold of reggae music back then unless you went down to london to the specialist shops..so i'd often be in alan fearnleys little music shop on linthorpe rd thumbing and searching..my first ever LP was this one below and it was a great mix of lovers rock tunes that i still love today..

So there you have it realy..its been a great journey collecting and listening to reggae music..theres not a day goes by when i don't listen to reggae..it lifts me up and chills me out..it takes me to places and brings back great memories of friendships past..all without the aid of a spliff..i did try that stuff years ago but it just made me sick when smoking it..
I suppose i'd better leave you with one of my favourite reggae tunes and yes its a lovers rock tune..a tune that hits me in the heart and makes me smile every time i hear it..

PEACE & LOVE TO ALL WHO HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO READ MY BLOG...

Trust Your Instincts With A Little Help From Your Friends...

Imagine you're stood at the crossroads of life..a decision is pending..which direction do you take..???

I'm sure we must make decisions like this every day.. *ALARM* you wake up...Hmmm whats for breakfast "micro decision" in a day that may throw up a "major decision"..Unless you are a hermit where every day is pretty much the same, and you've decided to opt out of the RAT-RACE, then its a fact of life that at some point in your 24 hour day filled with "micro decisions" a crossroads will be met..i'll let you the reader fill in this gap on what was your crossroads moment in the last 24 hours (                 ).

What you need a bigger gap..??? well all i can say is it must have been one huge decision you made..i hope you used your instincts after weighing up all factors..yes i'm sure you did..only the weak follow the shepherd..they have their paths mapped out for them..they have no need to think, they simply follow their leader and wander in a wasteland..Maybe not quite a hermit yet, but in time may well be....oh damn i may be wrong here, becoming a hermit requires a major decision..or does it..???

My major decision in the last 24 hours was to write this blog post..i could have gone to bed but thanks to falling into a very deep sleep after dinner i'm here waxing lyrical about something we all do each day, yet realy dont give it much thought after the decision is set in concrete..

What if your decision tomorrow is to flick a switch and end the life of someone you love..you know its one that is "cruel to be kind" but can you live with yourself after you do it.
Its got to be one of the toughest decisions to make for any human..you say your last goodbyes and "FLICK"  its all over..This is one decision i hope i'm never ever faced with in my lifetime..yes i'm a strong character and  yes i have all the tools in my box to lead and help those who need a helping hand..my compassion to my fellow human beings comes quite naturally..i see hatred all around me and cringe..if only i could heal this world..throw my arms around the bad guys and say "change your direction" take a better path and walk in the direction of the majority..dont stand alone dont attract hate just follow a better path to the end of your days.

Just to bring this blog post to an end i'd like to quote something a friend at college once said to me..its something i'd never heard before and when she said it we were sat having coffee on a beautiful sunny day in the college gardens..Lisa Taylor these words have stayed with me all these years..i'll never forget them or the  time and place you blew my mind with them....."Richard you're one of life's nice guys..you deserve better than me and one day you will have it..Life is not a rehearsal its there to be lived..go live it".
I loved lisa and  still do..she was someone who was a real friend..someone who could have led me down the wrong path..instead she chose to guide me to the right path..that meant leaving her behind..that hurt like hell but it hurt for a reason....i'm glad i made that decision..i'm glad to have had a moment in my life where lisa was there..she pointed me in the right direction and for that i'm forever grateful..

My Addiction To Bloody Twitter...

Simple question realy but one i feel very difficult to answer..140 characters or dolly mixtures will certainly never be enough to sum up anyones addiction to Twattin Twitter..Bet you're wondering why i said "dolly mixtures" now...i shall explain in a short while.

ADDICTION yes quite a scary word and one so many of us readily throw away and say "no not me..i'm alright jack..no addiction worries here". Taking a deeper look we all have addictions of one form or another, some are addicted to narcotics some coronation street, some even addicted to themselves..
Each to their own i say..choose your vice and enjoy..if kept under control a great deal of pleasure can be drawn from it..

My addiction of late has been Twitter..over 2000 tweets in less than a month kinda speaks for itself..Why am i calling this an addiction..??? well in my eyes i feel i've let twitter take control of my everyday life..i feel compelled to tweet my every move, then when replies come flooding back "@" i quite rightly reply as promptly as possible..this seems to then spark conversation through cyberspace and so a friendship is cemented..nowt wrong with being polite and replying i hear you say..and rightly so, there is nowt wrong with it at all..HOWEVER this i feel is where the addiction is born..twitter has become more of a social meeting place in the past year..TIMELINES are now filled with chatter instead of what i think twitter was designed for "SHARING LINKS AND INFORMATION WITHIN YOUR NETWORK" , yes this little "@" is crucial to the sharing process, as is the #HashTag .

Getting back to my problem and the problem of many i'm sure..having a compatable phone armed with alerts relating to your twitter activity are a bloody nightmare..yes a useful tool to many..as soon as that phone bleeps you grab it and check alerts..bit like a kid opening christmas presents..you never know what it is but deep down you hope its good...i'm betting you're all nodding your heads now..YES..???

The urge to tweet is at times for me gripping..i can be in a situation a place or even in the bath..all of a sudden a thought comes through..next problem obviously is SHRINKING it to under 140 characters..few moments later its zapped out into cyberspace for followers and beyond to see..then the process starts..replies replies replies to attend to and still you are yet to wash your hair..This is my take on twitter taking over our everyday lives and interfering in the most basic of functions..how many times have you seen the tweet "been dying to go for a pee ?" ...Bloody crazy when you think of it and something i'm sure medical experts are keeping a very close eye on..could this be the next thing you go to your doctor with ???
I'm sure if i went to my doc and said "doc i think im cracking up, i'm a twitter addict" he would likely ROTFL OR PHSL..my doc always laughs at me..its true, why is a private matter but i will just say my humour and positive outlook on life always raises a giggle or at the very least a smile from him...

So as much as i see i have a problem and realise my addiction to twitter has been way out of hand i'm doing this my way and restricting my use of twitter to only a few tweets a day..mainly out of courtesy to the person  using the dreaded "@" and to using it for what i want to share..rather than what i want to say..i'm sure you understand where i'm coming from on this..Crazy thing is i'm putting it down in words to share on twitter.

DOLLY MIXTURES..yes they are quite addictive..just like the people who use twitter..Some are simply a delight..some are somewhat green and a bit too soft..some are bloody awful and tasteless..NOW as for the sugar coated ones..they are the ones best avoided..totally fake..totally pathetic and totally sad lonely individuals who maybe need to read this blog to see where their lives are heading..
                                                     

                                                                   "ARE YOU ???"

                                   

The Oldest Football Club in Norfolk..

Formed in 1897 , Great Yarmouth Town Fc holds a special place in my heart, as you've seen from my previous blogs about my adventures through the world of football..Great yarmouth has been my home town for over 20 years now and as such i've always enjoyed getting along to the wellesley to see the Bloaters..Unlike many football fans who show loyalty to one club, i feel getting behind your local team no matter where you are in the world not only helps that club, but also helps broaden your knowledge of the game as a whole..
Many a cold rainy afternoon and evening i've spent down at the wellesley, even when i've been totally skint i've made a point of getting along at half time (no entrance charge) just to see how things are going..

In the early days of me supporting the club there was a good friendly vibe around the place, something i liked as i was struggling to find my feet in my new adopted town..As time moved along, i felt i was a part of the club and i'd often have a chat with the then chairman Colin Smith who in later years became a neighbour . Its always nice to feel accepted and a brief chat from a friendly face goes a long way to cementing loyalty further.
Crowds at the club were quite decent, and often topped 150, pretty good at that level and you'd always find a fair few visiting supporters attending games..Highlights of the season were visits from local rivals Gorleston Fc, just over the river on what my mate ian calls the posh side..Then of course the visit of Lowestoft Town Fc from over the border in suffolk with their very passionate support..

Jumping forward a few years i'd like to mention some of the players i've seen down at the wellesley..on the local front there is of course the ex norwich city and rangers player Disco Dale Gordon and Greg Downs from coventry city who have put in shifts in the black and amber shirt..Stuart Roach and Scotty Mcintosh were particular favourites of mine bagging goals for fun..The legend Mark Vincent who could have easily made it as a pro in the game, but chose to stay loyal to the club playing well over 600 games and nicely rewarded with 2 testimonial games against the upcoming rushden & diamonds and barry frys peterborough united..i could rattle off quite a few names that have impressed me over the years..

A recent initiative which i was involved in with the club was to establish a supporters association to help raise awareness of the club in the community and to bring more people through the gates..Sadly this initiative has fallen on its face now..there is established support for the club and a core support of approx 70 who turn out for most home games..Trying to build support is a HUGE task for the club..there are potential customers out there..its just getting them to walk through the gates and spend a couple of hours at the wellesley..

There was a few years ago a very vocal youth element supporting the club "The Yarmybarmyarmy" who gave vocal support at each home game, and travelled to away games too..Sadly this small group of fans blotted their copy book with the club, and were ejected from a game at norwich city fc for breaching club security regulations and failing to sit down in a stadium that was nearly empty...all very harsh on them realy, as anyone who visits carrow road will witness many in the barclay terrace standing for the full 90 minutes as well as visiting fans standing in the jarrold stand..

So here we are in 2011 and news reached me from the new chairman, that Paul Tong (1st team manager) has left the club..All a bit out of the blue and very sad..Life must go on at our local club, there is a big task ahead on tuesday night versus norfolk rivals Dereham Town..i do hope the game is attended by at least 100 supporters tomorrow night..This old norfolk club realy does deserve better from the locals..yes there are numerous factors stopping fans coming along..however i truly believe there would be a massive outcry if this club was allowed to die from locals both sides of the river yare..

My only hope is that this blog will find its way to football fans who realy do care about the game and if by chance you are a resident of the borough of great yarmouth..please get along to the wellesley and support the club..There is always a friendly welcome and i'm sure once you're bitten by the bug as i was many years ago..you'll love it and your veins will have a few pints of amber and black blood flowing through them.